Trailing by nine at halftime, The University of Scranton women's basketball team played one of its best halves of the season, rallying for a 65-58 victory over Juniata in the Long Center on Saturday night.
The victory snaps a two-game losing streak and pulls the Lady Royals (13-6, 5-3 Landmark) into a tie for third place with Juniata (14-5, 5-3 Landmark). The teams split the two regular season meetings. The top four teams earn berths in the Landmark Conference playoffs.
Junior guard Alison Sweeney (Wall, N.J./St. Rose) and sophomore guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy) had 12 points each to lead Scranton. Sophomore forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) added 11 points.
Scranton trailed, 33-24, at the break after Juniata finished the half on a 10-3 run. The Eagles shot 44.8 percent (13-for-29) in the opening half while holding Scranton to just 21.2 percent (7-for-33) from the field.
But the Lady Royals found their shooting touch after the break, using a 17-4 run to turn an eight-point deficit into a 45-40 lead with 12:45 to play. Sweeney had eight of her 10 second-half points during the run, and Mesaris scored the first five to spark the game-changing spurt.
Scranton stretched the lead to 59-51 with 2:14 to play before the Eagles made one last run, outscoring the Lady Royals, 7-1, to draw within two with 50 seconds remaining. The teams traded quick turnovers on the Scranton end before Fluehr hit four straight free throws and senior forward Erin Boggan (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) added one of her own to seal the victory.
The Lady Royals shot 46.4 percent (13-for-28) while holding Juniata to 32.1 percent (9-for-28) in the second half.
Boggan narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with nine points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Sophomore guard Lia DiSciascio (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) came off the bench to contribute eight points, two assists and a steal, and freshman guard Jaclyn Gantz (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) had seven points, three rebounds and two steals in 14 minutes.
The Lady Royals tied their season low with 12 turnovers while shooting 32.8 percent (20-for-61) for the game. They connected on 17 of 21 from the free throw line and won the rebounding battle, 43-39.
Juniata was led by junior forward Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area), who scored a game-high 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. The Eagles committed 18 turnovers while shooting 38.6 percent (22-for-57) from the field and 5-for-9 from the free throw line.
Scranton returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 30, when it travels to Kings Point, N.Y. for a Landmark Conference game against Merchant Marine Academy at 7 p.m.
--LADY ROYALS--